J.J. Abrams Explains How Harrison Ford Reacted To What Happened To Han Solo In Star Wars: The Force Awakens
was Han Solo, who was run through by his own son, Ben Solo, now Kylo Ren. J.J. Abrams, director [...]
Star Wars: The Force Awakens brought back a much-loved franchise in many ways, and is already looked at as one of the best in the series by some. In addition to those wonderful qualities, there were many who were sad to see one of their favorite characters meet their untimely demise.
That character of course (It should be noted I gave you a whole paragraph just in case you haven't seen it) was Han Solo, who was run through by his own son, Ben Solo, now Kylo Ren. J.J. Abrams, director of The Force Awakens, recently talked with Fandango about that scene, and how the conversation went when Harrison Ford found out his fate.
"He was very thoughtful about it, and he got it. He understood why it was so powerful. And I think part of it was because Harrison himself -- Han, the character -- has so much ahead of him. Has so much life and fight and adventure -- that this was the time to do that thing. If we felt like the character was sort of at the end of his days, it wouldn't have been as powerful. The thing that made it potentially meaningful wasn't just who does it and how it happened, but that it's a character that is so vital that is meeting his demise. I'll also say that Harrison's always said that he knew that Han needed to have clear utility, and that's what he wanted to do. And that's why he argued back in the day that Han should die and George [Lucas] didn't want to do it. And I don't know what his utility in that regard would've been, though I'm sure Harrison would've come up with a clever pitch for it. But in this case there was such a clear utility -- it's about bringing this new villain to the fore, and there's nothing I could think of that is more hideous than patricide, especially when it comes to Han Solo."
This is one of the few times I have to side with George Lucas, but I don't believe it would have had the same impact in the original trilogy, though I do love when actors will push a possible role in a future film aside for the betterment of the current film. Overall I think his death in The Force Awakens was handled quite well, and look forward to seeing how his death affects the characters moving forward.